Playful wedding traditions simply belong to Czech receptions. The shards that bring luck, carrying the bride over the threshold, kidnapping the bride, the accordion player that can play any song by request and, most of all, the newlyweds eating the dumpling soup together, preferably with a holey spoon. The restaurant personnel always welcome the newlyweds and wedding guests with a toast and congratulations before entering the restaurant, and then it begins. The wedding guests can let themselves be surprised or they can choose, for example:

In the times before Christ the bride was only symbolically accepted in a new society (family) after she eats bread and cheese with the groom. Today this custom has taken on a slightly different dimension. Before the wedding couple enters a building or restaurant after the ceremony, they are offered bread and salt with a glass of water. The newlyweds have to share them both, after which they throw the empty glass behind their back so that it breaks. It is just like it should be in marriage and their coming life together. They have shared and the shards will bring them luck.

This custom has its roots in two superstitions: shards are supposed to bring luck and sweeping them up together shows the newlyweds are willing to cooperate. When they “beat” the shards together, then they will be able to handle anything.

The newlyweds have rice thrown on them (or in some regions even confetti, nuts or raisins) in order to have lots of children. If someone sits a small child on the bride’s lap during the banquet, it is said to have the same effect.

In order for the young man to outsmart the evil spirits that, according to superstition, lurk under the threshold of the entrance door and guard the house or flat, he must take his bride into his arms and not allow her foot to touch the threshold. This custom has another meaning as well. A new stage of life and the wedding night are starting.

The custom in which the newlyweds feed soup to each other from a common bowl also symbolises their cooperation. But it also has another meaning: They will both be taking and giving the same amount from the family pie in their marriage.

The bride cuts it, but the groom holds his hand on the knife at the same time. Thus he symbolically helps his new bride and shows her that he will always be there to support her. The groom gives the first piece to the bride, who gives the second piece to the groom, followed by the groom's mother, her own mother, the groom's father and her own father. The best man and bridesmaid follow, then all the wedding party. Everyone has to taste the cake. It is said that to refuse to do so brings bad luck.

At the end of the wedding banquet the bride throws her wedding bouquet over her shoulder to the unmarried girls. The girl that catches the wedding flowers will be the next to get married. The groom must determine which of the men will be the next groom. He takes the bride's garter off and flings it between his fingers to the male wedding guests.